Air Date: July 15, 1967. Written by: Robert Banks Stewart. Directed by: Peter Duguid. Produced by: Terence Feely, Lloyd Shirley. MISSING, PRESUMED WIPED.
This review is based on the rehearsal script, available in the .pdf archive on Disc Three of the Callan: This Man Alone DVD set.
THE PLOT:
Callan learns that Nobby Clarke (Michael Robbins), the military sergeant who once saved his life, has been injured in a hit-and-run after returning to England. It doesn't take long to realize that this wasn't an accident; it was Meres, acting on Hunter's orders, due to Clarke's activities as a self-styled "major" who is training rebels in an unnamed African nation.
Clarke insists that he is home to stay, and Callan wants to believe him. But Clarke seems utterly uninterested in his pretty young wife (Fionnula Flanagan), and is spending far too much time with English-educated African businessman Kanaro (Dennis Alaba Peters), leading Callan to suspect that Hunter is right and that Clarke fully intends to return to his mercenary lifestyle.
CHARACTERS:
Callan: This is the first episode written by someone other than creator James Mitchell, and it shows. Callan remains caustic, but he's noticeably softer here than in the previous episodes. For the first time, his interactions with Lonely border on being friendly, which is actively jarring when reading it in the script. The class resentment remains, however. When he meets Kanaro and hears his posh speaking style, Callan instinctively sneers at him by asking whether he went to Cambridge or Seton.
Hunter: A rare bit of class baiting from Hunter. After Meres' failed attempt on Clarke, he mocks the agent for his upper-class haircut before trying to recruit Callan, who - as he tells Meres - can actually show his face around Clarke. He meets Callan halfway on this assignment, stating that killing Clarke isn't necessary. As long as Clarke isn't returning to Africa, whether by his own choice or by criminal frame-up, he will be satisfied.
Lonely: Late in the script, he is held by Clarke's associates as they wait in Callan's apartment for him to return. This allows Lonely a moment of resourcefulness, as he finds a way to quietly give Callan warning about the ambush without attracting his captors' attention. This scene would probably be the most interesting to see if the episode is ever recovered.
Nobby Clarke: In a switch-up from the affable villains of the first two episodes, Nobby Clarke is pretty much without redeeming qualities. He is casually cruel, casually racist, and casually violent, to the point that it becomes difficult to see why Callan is hesitating in completing this assignment. It is possible that this played better in the episode; actor Michael Robbins may have played against the worst of the lines, or may have been able to infuse the monster with a certain rough charm. On paper, however, he's a fairly one-dimensional creation, eliciting neither fascination nor sympathy.
THOUGHTS:
And so we come to the first of Callan's ten missing episodes. For the missing episodes - and the unproduced episode script by James Mitchell that was included in Callan Uncovered - I will simply write up my thoughts on the scripts as they exist. I will not, however, provide scores, as too much of the final quality can vary depending on performances, screen rapport among actors, and editing and directorial choices.
Goodbye, Nobby Clarke follows the basic formula of the first two shows. Callan is assigned a target he personally likes. Hunter insists the target is guilty of some horrible crime. Callan investigates, finds out Hunter is right, and reluctantly completes the job. I know the series eventually mixes the formula up a bit; I just hope it does so before Series Two.
If this episode is ever recovered, there would be two scenes I would be particularly interested in seeing. I would love to watch Lonely surreptitiously warning Callan, if only to observe the more resourceful side of the petty criminal (the surrounding action scene reads as a pretty good one, too). I would also like to see the realization of the warehouse climax, which as written has potential to be an effectively suspense sequence.
Based on the script, however, this is by far the least interesting of the first three episodes. The plot is somewhat shopworn, and the character material is noticeably weaker than in the previous installments. It's reasonably entertaining, even on the page, and I suspect Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter in particular made the most of a few good moments... but if episodes have to be missing, then this is one absence that isn't that keenly felt.
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